Of all the looks that have made the NBA tunnel the most beloved and closely-watched fashion spectacle in sports, one in particular stands out: Washington Wizards forward Kyle Kuzma in a ginormous pink sweater—the sleeves so long that even on his 6’10” frame, they extended well past the length of his arms, swinging and swishing as he walked the halls of Capital One Arena. Photos of Kuzma in the Raf Simons knit instant went viral, prompting jokes, memes, and an Instagram comment from Kuzma’s former Lakers teammate LeBron James that read: “Ain’t no fucking way you wore that!!!” A fashion lover through and through, Kuzma was unfazed by the criticism. The 29-year-old basketball star engaged in friendly exchanges with those who derided the look, and more audacious game-day outfits followed: fitted red leather pants with a matching red-and-white leather jacket; a rainbow-striped open-knit cardigan, worn with no shirt underneath and and a candy-colored ski mask; black separates paired with an over-the-top fur coat. But that was then.
Fast forward to the 2024–2025 NBA season, which officially began
on Tuesday, and Kuzma has decided to retire his tunnel fits. Exit the attention-grabbing garb he’s become synonymous with, enter the simplistic sweatsuit he wore before last night’s game against the Boston Celtics—a version of which he plans to wear all season long.
“I don’t want to be a part of that type of community where you have to put on a fit,” Kuzma tells Vogue. “I’m really taking a backseat to all of that.” Chatting via Zoom from his home office last week, Kuzma explains that while he was “a pretty evident person within the tunnel years ago,” the commercialization of the space—and the pressure it puts on some players—doesn’t sit well with him. “I can speak from experience that when you’re a younger player, you don’t want to wear the same thing twice. A lot of times we get played into thinking, oh, we gotta switch it up, we gotta buy something new. And now we’re just buying clothes to impress people or to stand out. It’s ludicrous.”
This sartorial shift doesn’t mean Kuzma is offloading his designer wardrobe. (Though, if he were, that’s a closet sale we’d camp out for.) Rather, he plans to reach for those pieces on days he’s not going to work.
Ahead, Kuzma shares more about his game-day fashion—past, present, and future.
Vogue: Tell us about your approach to fashion your rookie season. When you were drafted in 2017, were you looking forward to expanding your wardrobe?
Kyle Kuzma: Yes, for sure. I ve always loved clothes. I grew up going to church, so going to church with my grandmother, she made me dress up. And then in college, I really loved to look good. It was my first time on my own, and I wanted to put on really nice, presentable clothes.
The first time I went to summer league [in Las Vegas] as a rookie, I won maybe $3,000 playing Russian Roulette. It probably wasn’t a smart financial decision to gamble as soon as I had a little bit of money, but I did, and I won. I went straight to MCM and Gucci and I bought a backpack and some shoes.
How has your style changed and developed throughout your time in the NBA thus far?
It s gotten a lot more sophisticated. Like with wine, it always gets better as the years go on if you have the right vintage. And I feel like that is with my fashion too. I was really heavy into street wear, but would also put on some nice, dressy suits, even as a younger player. Now I ve truly made my own aesthetic, and I feel true to myself. That takes time.
In seasons past you’ve gotten a lot of attention for your tunnel looks. Of course, there was the pink sweater, but there was also that big fur coat, the mint green suit with the mesh shirt… When you look back on those looks, do you still have the same fondness for them that you did back then?
Yes, because those are timeless outfits. I could wear that mint suit and the fishnet tank today and it would still be cool. When you go to a museum, you’ll see paintings from 1865 there; they’re timeless and still beautiful. I really try to approach clothes in that way. And that pink sweater was more of an artistic take on clothes than me just wearing a garment to a game. In my way, I was showing that the world wasn’t made for us tall people; fashion doesn’t always think about us. If someone shorter were to wear a sweater that was made for me, that’s what it would look like on them—how I looked in that pink sweater. That’s what I was saying.
What are your thoughts on the current state of the tunnel?
The tunnel used to be a way to really express yourself, but now everything is so monetized and commercialized. People have stylists; people are buying clothes to wear once, or brands or sending clothes. Where’s the individuality in that? Or the creativeness? Everything’s out of whack. I feel like even the people that follow NBA fashion are like, “this is too much.”
How are you approaching game-day fashion this season?
I m on the less is more train. There’s a creative studio I’m part of and we’re developing the perfect essential core pieces, just for us. I’ve been wearing the sweats and I just really love the silhouette and how I feel in them.
Would the Kyle Kuzma of 2021 be surprised by this change?
No, because this is also an art form in a sense. It still has a message, which is “this is what makes me feel good and what makes me feel comfortable, but it’s chic as well.”
You have such an amazing wardrobe—are you still going to wear the clothes we’ve seen you in before?
For sure. As athletes, we make our everyday lives our tunnels, whether we’re in season or not. But the actual tunnel is not really the best place to get a fit off. I m wearing some really nice clothes and I m walking behind a dumpster; I m walking into a dark arena tunnel with flash cameras and people behind me and trash cans. So can I really show off my artistry? Can I really show off my clothes?
